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Monday, September 12, 2016

Fairfax IDPA BUG/CCP Match

Once again, I headed north on I-95 Saturday morning to shoot the IDPA match at Fairfax Rod & Gun Club. For this month's match, participants were encouraged to shoot in the BUG or CCP divisions. I decided to enter the CCP (Compact Carry Pistol) division. I've only shot in that division in a Classifier match previously, but I do enjoy shooting the SIG P239, even if I shoot it infrequently.

After the safety briefing, the match kicked off with the playing of our National Anthem. (No one took a knee.) We hiked over to the range where our first two stages awaited. There's a moderate walk between the ranges at the club, but I was surprised by how many people drove their cars between the ranges. The first stage I shot had three groups of three targets arranged across the bay. The first group was shot on the move, the next two from behind cover. As I would soon realize, the day's stages were geared to the six shot BUG guns. I finished the stage down zero.

The next course of fire had three t-shirt covered targets, with non-threat targets placed in between. Shot while stationary, each threat target required six hits. Since the targets were covered, no perforations were visible, so the shooter had to judge carefully where to aim. I learned the lesson long ago that the -0 zone on an IDPA target is in the upper half, not the center. All my shots hit within the -0 zones.

Moving over to next range we found two more fun stages waiting. The first was shot while seated, and had two paper and two falling steel poppers. Starting with just six rounds in the gun, we were required to engage one paper target with three rounds WEAK HAND ONLY, followed by three shots on the other paper STRONG HAND ONLY. A quick reload while seated and the two steel targets were engaged.

On the second stage in this bay, we started in front of a swinging target, holding the activation rope in our strong hand. Pulling the rope and drawing the gun, we engaged the swinger with four rounds, and then moved to behind a barricade to shoot four more targets. After the first three stages I was still down zero for the match, but alas, finished this stage -3.

The final stage of the match consisted of two strings of fire. Starting on the left side of the bay, there were two targets to be engaged with three rounds each while moving to the right. Then from behind cover, another target required six hits. For the second string, we repeated the scenario, this time moving from right to left. Two deviously placed non-threat targets added to the challenge. Start shooting too soon as you moved, and your hits on the targets would pass through and hit a non-threat. Move too fast across the course and your shots on the second target would pass through onto a non-threat. I didn't hit any of the non-threats, but shot a little hurried and finished the stage -5 points. That meant a total of 8 points down for the match.

The match went quite quickly due to the quick and straightforward stages. We finished shooting around 1:00 PM. The quick match was welcome as the temperature was in the mid-90's with the typical Virginia humidity.

As an added treat, the club provided a free lunch for the shooters at the match. Volunteers were grilling burgers and brats, and chips and soda were also included. I downed a quick venison bratwurst when I finished shooting, which held me over for the drive home. Even though the drive to the match is the shortest of any of the matches I attend regularly, the same cannot be said for the afternoon drive home. Google Maps did present me with a quite scenic drive which avoided the south bound congestion on the interstate, but was still 20 minutes longer than the morning leg.

The match was a lot of fun, with interesting, but not overly complex courses of fire. I enjoyed shooting the compact gun, and was pleased with my performance despite not having shot it for many months.

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